Naptown Buzz

Your source for all things Indy™

Brian Groce

2015 INDYCAR Media Day Coverage

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Gen Con Indy 2014: The Games

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On Friday I stumbled across the Rock, Paper, Scissors (, Lizard, Spock) Guinness Book of World Records attempt. By Sunday they hit 2,950, setting the new record.

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Settlers of Catan is wildly popular at Gen Con, and you can hardly find an area where someone isn’t playing it, or one of the variations.

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For those that prefer the floor, or have very bad eyesight, there are MAMMOTH versions of Settlers available to play. Very cool, and hey, it does get you moving a bit during the game.

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I’ve not had a chance to play Catan Histories: Settlers of America yet, but it looks like fun.

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The “Family Fun Pavilion” was hopping on Sunday.

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Ticket to Ride is another popular game at Gen Con. I’ve yet to play it, but I picked up a copy at Gen Con to rectify that.

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The Battle of Five Armies (2014) looks like it should be fun for Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fans. Not to be confused with the 2005 release of the same title.

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It wasn’t clear if this was a custom board for The Battle of Five Armies, or something else. Nonetheless, it looks pretty neat.

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Old school custom gaming, I’m assuming a role playing war/battle game of some sort due to the notes and die. Talk about dedication to a game.

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Axis & Allies (1981) is another game I saw numerous copies of floating around, but not one I’ve played since I don’t normally have three hours to kill. Someday.

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I saw this game in passing, which is Star Wars themed, and includes a few GIANT AT-AT’s.

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Custom game that obviously had a lot of time invested in its making.

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This game involved aliens invading a city. Enough said. Roll the dice!

Gen Con Indy 2014: The Atmosphere

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Gen Con, “The Best Four Days In Gaming!”, did not disappoint this year. From the vendors, to the games, to the auctions, and everything in between, it was a blast.

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This neat guy was located in the Exhibit Hall. I wouldn’t having one of these in the backyard at home.

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For those into miniatures, they had it setup to where you could paint one and take it home.

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In one area they had a game with robots setup. Awesome!

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In the Exhibit Hall, the “Family Fun Pavilion” is an area with vendors of games for the kids, AND an area where they can pick up board games to play there. Great idea, and it was packed on Sunday.

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These balloon creations were made during the convention, and popped at noon on Sunday. It’s always interesting to see what they come up with.

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In one of the lobby areas there’s always a place setup where you can take old cards and create anything you wish with them. Then of course, they are all torn down towards the end of the convention.

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The city of Indianapolis rolls out the welcome mat for Gen Cen.

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Out on Georgia Street, just about every food truck in the city shows up at some point during the convention. If you’re looking for something tasty to eat (which many folks seem to forget to do during Gen Con), there’s just about anything you could want available.

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Nacho Mama’s is starting to form a line, even before they open for the Thursday evening shift.

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This year I would have to say I probably had the most fun sitting in on some of the board game auctions. It’s a real history lesson of what’s out there, and you can score some rare, out of print and obscure titles, at reasonable prices.

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If you like getting whacked with foam swords, no problem, they have you covered. Since I have a house full of kids, I didn’t find the need to partake in something that happens on a normal day.

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A lot of people don’t realize that there’s more to Gen Con than just games. The Film Festival and Writer’s Symposium are two great examples of that.

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Outside of the Indiana Convention Center the sidewalk pattern is hex shaped. I was a little surprised that I didn’t witness anyone turning them into a game board, though I’m sure someone probably did so at some point.

Gen Con 2014: Five Things to See & Do

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Gen Con 2014

Gen Con, “The Best Four Days in Gaming”, returns to Indianapolis this weekend, and Naptown Buzz will be there snapping photos and checking out what’s going on!

If you’ve not been to Gen Con before, I recommend giving it a whirl. The first time I covered Gen Con, I went in under the impression that it was a TON of people who liked to play Dungeons & Dragons, or Magic the Gathering, while dressed up like Star Wars characters. While those games are popular, as are the Star Wars costumes, Gen Con is so much more than that, and you can play just about any game out there (and some truly are “out there”).

Here are five things I’m interested in seeing this year:

The Froth of Khaaan: Sun King Brewing brings us the official convention beer, The Froth of Khan. This will be available at a variety of establishments across Indianapolis, including Bru Burger Bar, California Pizza Kitchen, Champs, Claddagh Irish Pub, Coaches Tavern, Harry and Izzy’s, Hyatt Downtown, Indianapolis Colts Grille, JW Marriott Indianapolis, MavNiven’s, Mass Ave Pub, Palomino, Pearl Street Pizzeria, Tavern on South, Tilted Kilt, Tomlinson Taproom (City Market), Weber Grill, Winner’s Circle, Embassy Suites, Crown Plaza, and more!

The Dungeon: Last year I stumbled into some sort of dungeon area that reminded me more of a haunted house than anything, but no one was jumping out at anyone. In this area, which is as dark as night, apparently some sort of game was going on and people were collecting coins of some sort. If this is taking place again this year, someone, please clue me in as to what is going on.

Food Trucks: Returning to Gen Con are more than 40 of Indianapolis’ best food trucks, offering attendees a huge variety of cuisines throughout the show. Stationed along Georgia Street and Capitol Avenue, great eats await just outside the convention center doors! Click here for a full schedule and listing.

Costumes: If you’re anywhere downtown Thursday through Sunday, I’m sure that you’ll see plenty of costumes. Grab your camera, take some photos, and try to figure out what/who they’re supposed to be. For added fun, bring along some candy to hand out, as this is like Halloween in August!

Games (Duh!): Settlers of Catan & Ticket to Ride are standby favorites to watch, and to play. But going through the Gen Con Catalog, games such as Bedpans and Broomsticks (Will you evade capture, use your tools and decoy to confuse and stall the retirement home staff, and find your way out the front door first?), Flapjacks & Sasquatches (Grab your trusty axe, and have some bacon, but avoid forest fires and the dreaded Sasquatch in this fast & furious stick it to your neighbor card game about lumberjacks in the Great White North!) & Flea Marketeers (You have finally landed the job of your dreams! Building up your own flea market area, swindling other Marketeers, & dealing in “Americana Treasure” – what could be more fun?) are sure to be something you’ll remember for years to come.

Stay tuned for more Gen Con coverage, and if you’re headed out to Gen Con, try to find me!

Indianapolis Star to Cut More Jobs

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Via the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild:

The Indianapolis Star announced its “newsroom of the future.” It involves 15% fewer journalists than the newsroom of the present. The copy desk, those folks who make sure stories are readable, who catch a tremendous amount of mistakes and who generally make everything of higher quality, is being “dissolved.” We’re going to lose 5 of 11 photographers and other support staff. Some good middle managers who guide journalists young and old will be out of a job soon, too. What the paper is telling the public is that there will be 6 more reporters. And there will be. With beats like beverages, party crasher and holidays and observances. No, we are not making this up. Welcome to the future.

I can’t say that this is shocking in any way, but really?! They’re ditching the staff who PROOF READ, and are adding NUVO type of content? If that’s what they’re after, then why in the world did they ditch Metromix Indy (and the previous iterations)? I personally enjoyed Metromix, but that sort of content is not really in line with what most older people are looking for in a daily newspaper.

For the past several years, the Star seems to be trying to see what works in the “digital age”. But having proof readers, fact checkers & editors are big things that differentiate them from “bloggers” and “online media”. (Go ahead, use the comments below to point out any mistakes I’ve made in this post.)

I don’t know. It’s a hard situation all around, but I don’t think the solution is in college kids and booze. Personally I’d love to see more LOCAL, non-wire, content. More human interest pieces. More small business features, especially for those who don’t have the means to purchase expensive advertising, but could really use a boost. There are plenty of places to find news of what’s happening elsewhere, but to find local stories, not just politics, crime and sports, is hard to come by. Those of us who try to fill that void by producing content, often do so in our spare time, for little or no money, solely because it drives us and we feel that the stories should be told.

The situation the Star, and most other local media (see: recent WISH-TV news), is in is tough. Trust me, I know. I am friends with a lot of these folks, in all media formats, and have heard their side of things. While there’s no silver bullet, maybe the solution lies in going back to their roots and mixing in new sources of income. I can think of a few off the top of my head, but they’ll need to do more than take me out to crash parties to hear them.

Indy’s Incredible Pizza to Close August 18th

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Indy's Incredible Buffet & Fun Center Closing

Via the Indy’s Incredible Buffet & Fun Center mailing list on Tuesday:

On August 18th at end of day (8pm) we will be closing our doors for good. It was not an easy decision and we do so with a heavy heart. We want to say thank you to all of you who have shared your family and group outings, your birthdays, participated in breakfast with Santa and Bunny events, and all the other days in between. We have had a blast with you, and your smiles and laughter will be sorely missed.

Between now and then our buffet is full and hot, our games are up and our attractions running. Use any money on your unused gift or game cards, and and share one more moment with us. 

Sincerely,
Jim Leonard

Sitting in my backyard, Incredible Pizza will be missed, and a huge vacant retail hole will be left as well.